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Insubordination, a short-story by Alex Beecroft
Fans of Captain's Surrender (such as me here at ObsidianBookshelf.com), rejoice! We now have a new glimpse into their complicated life together in the 13-page short story, Insubordination. What a great title this is with all of its intriguing connotations: breaches of military protocol, rebellion, challenges to the established order, mischief, and even playfulness. All of these associations are present in this character-driven short story.
Now, a summary from Captain's Surrender for background. Josh Andrews starts out as a 20 year-old midshipman on the Nimrod under the command of the sadistic and unstable Captain Walker. As the highest-ranking midshipman, Josh must serve briefly as "acting lieutenant" to cover for the officer who gets hanged in the opening scene of Captain's Surrender. The officer's crime? Getting caught in a sexual act with another man.
Having to witness the hanging is horrifying to Josh because he himself is secretly gay. Also, he realizes that Captain Walker has intuited this, and is waiting avidly for the proof needed to sentence Josh to death. The stakes rise even higher in this first scene of Captain's Surrender when the new lieutenant Peter Kenyon shows up and Josh experiences an immediate attraction to him.
Captain's Surrender is a complex and exciting adventure story that is wonderfully character-driven. It creates distinctly three-dimensional personalities in Peter and Josh. In fact, the two men could not be more different.
Peter is ambitious and supremely self-confident: as a highly competent, well-educated Englishman of the upper classes, he knows that the world truly does revolve around him. He plans to select an appropriate wife when he has achieved sufficient military glory.
Josh, from a working-class Irish family, has had to enlist in the navy and toil his way up through the ranks. He has always known that his sexual attraction towards men could get him killed. He has enough inner strength not to indulge in self-loathing, but he has to struggle not to internalize the prevailing view of the time: gay men are criminals in the secular world, and their souls are damned in the hereafter.
When these two men start to act on their attraction in Captain's Surrender, you realize the terrible risk they take. You also get the impression that Josh has no choice in the matter of being gay or being in love with Peter: he just is. This puts him in a painfully vulnerable position – especially because, through much of the book, Peter seems only to be indulging his curiosity with a brief, forbidden affair. He tends to take Josh for granted.
One of the pleasures of Captain's Surrender is seeing both men evolve as they switch places within the relationship. Josh gains self-confidence as he realizes that he deserves, and can have, the love of a good man, whether or not it turns out to be Peter. Peter experiences the anguish of finding out that he loves Josh enough to risk losing his entire world – and that he might also lose Josh if he doesn't start appreciating him.
When Insubordination begins, Peter and Josh have achieved a temporary calm in their relationship. They are still serving together, which is a blessing because the unpredictable demands of the British navy (currently at war with France) could still split them up. However, they've had no chance to resume their love affair, and the sexual abstinence is frustrating them both. Josh makes a bold overture to Peter who responds by inviting him to dinner at his house that night.
Dinner turns into subtle flirtation accomplished within the oblivious presence of the servants as the two exchange lingering glances and Josh dares to loosen some of his clothing. The awareness still hangs between them of the terrible risk they run by continuing to pursue their affair: they could face death by hanging. Therefore, each realizes that the sexual encounter they have tonight may be – and probably should be – their last. Each intends to make the most of it. Once the servants are dismissed, this leads to one very hot encounter!
The exquisitely written sex scene that follows starts in Josh's viewpoint as he decides to take control of their encounter so as to free Peter from responsibility and guilt. The viewpoint shifts to Peter for the rest of the scene as he experiences the heady mixture of excitement and apprehensiveness of submitting to Josh. Because Peter is someone who instinctively seizes authority, such an act of sexual submission becomes a freeing experience that gives him a chance to reinvent himself.
In addition, the scene explores a fascinating contradiction at the heart of their relationship. Outwardly, Peter outranks Josh and also has a more authoritative presence. However, he is completely inexperienced sexually. On the other hand, Josh may have a natural diffidence instilled in him by class and life circumstances, but he is a skilled and knowledgeable lover. It's fascinating to see him initiate Peter into the pleasures of gay sex.
When the scene ends, you're even more aware of the central dilemma faced by Josh and Peter: they love each other too much to give each other up even though such an affair risks their lives. What on earth can they do about it? This is a question that could be explored in future short stories, or (even better) a sequel to Captain's Surrender. For now, readers can satisfy their desire to read about Josh and Peter in this free short-story available for download (see link below)..
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